Unioto senior graduates one year after life-changing car accident

CHILLICOTHE— On May 19, 2021, Unioto senior Olivia Badger was in a life-changing car accident. Today, she is graduating at the top of her class.

Two weeks after getting her license, Badger was driving to school when her car spun out of control and hit a tree. She was left with a severe jaw fracture, a back broken in three places and a totaled car.

"I woke up that morning and told myself, "'You look so good today. You're gonna have a great day,'" Badger said. "I was thinking about that in the ambulance."

She was transferred from the Adena Regional Medical Center in Chillicothe to the OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in Columbus, where she was finally moved to Nationwide Children's Hospital. She spent three days in the hospital.

She doesn't remember the accident, but she remembers the aftermath. She could only eat through a straw and couldn't easily move around the house. Her jaw was locked in place and she had to wear a rigid back brace. She spent the summer at home, watching Jane the Virgin and Gossip Girl. The painful and boring recovery changed her life.

Before the accident, Badger worked two jobs and was constantly on the move. Even as a teenager, she spent her free time trying to earn money for her family and future. After recovering, she decided to only work one job to have more time for herself.

She said the best part of having free time again is being able to catch up on sleep. Spending time with friends and family, she now remembers to take more photos and videos to capture the moment.

"You literally never know when something traumatic will happen," Badger said. "I just try to live as much as I can."

Her family helped her deal with the accident with constant love and support, helping her around the house, making her food and raising her spirits.

Badger had a hard time talking about the accident afterward, especially her feelings toward the traumatic experience. She began journaling to cope with recovery but also relied on her 12th-grade English teacher, Logan Goebel, who helped her through tough times the last couple of years at Unioto. Goebel said she tries to be a mentor for her students.

"Helping her through decisions, not just about English, but about jobs and family life and relationships with friends and all that stuff. She's come to me for a lot of advice," Goebel said. "At the end of the day, we all need somebody to help us think through difficult situations."

After the car accident, Goebel was there to offer her student extra support.

"We've kind of worked together and chatted through a lot of the really hard PTSD, emotional stuff that comes from an accident like that," Goebel said. "She's gone through a lot of things in her short life, so I feel like I've tried to be there in those moments."

She said she has discussed the accident with Badger to not only work past it but to grow and learn from it.

Thanks to educators like Goebel, Badger aspires to become a teacher. She said she wants to offer students support and mentorship, just like Goebel did for her.

"She really related to us... you could always walk into her class and feel right at home," Badger said. "She made me want to teach because I feel like I personally can make an impact on somebody and she definitely made an impact on me ."

She said Goebel was always available to talk and students were free to stop by and talk if they needed to get something off their chest. Badger wants to run her future classroom the same way.

Goebel said Badger is always "pushing those boundaries, wondering about the hard questions... doesn't shy away from any topic." With her willingness to both discuss and listen, Goebel said Badger has the perfect teacher qualities.

Badger will be studying middle childhood education at Ohio University Chillicothe in the fall to become an English teacher.

She hopes to keep working through her accident and grow above it. Through her accident and recovery, Badger learned to identify with her emotions and make the most of her life.

"I'm really happy with my life... one of my lessons that I've learned is that like it's okay to feel things and it's okay to be not okay," Badger said. "I just became eternally grateful for what I have and what I am... I learned to love myself a lot more... I'm very proud of myself for how far I've come."

Megan Becker is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. Call her at 740-349-1106, email her at mbecker@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @BeckerReporting

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Unioto senior graduates one year after life-changing car accident